COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio High School Athletic Association board of directors and staff are in discussions about expanding tournament divisions in baseball, basketball, soccer, softball and girls volleyball.
A proposal could be enacted in 2024 with possible implementation as early as the 2024-25 school year.
OHSAA executive director Doug Ute announced Wednesday morning the expansion study of the seven competitive balance sports in a memo to member schools.
The memo did not state the proposed number of expanded divisions for those sports. It could potentially impact the number of state finals at locations around the state. Currently, state semifinals and finals are played at University of Dayton Arena for basketball, Wright State University's Nutter for girls volleyball, Akron's Canal Park for baseball and Akron's Firestone Stadium for softball.
The state semifinal soccer games are played neutral school locations before the state finals in Columbus.
Currently, boys and girls soccer have three divisions each while baseball, softball, boys and girls basketball and girls volleyball have four divisions.
Any proposed changes in the number of tournament divisions would need to be approved by a majority vote of the OHSAA board of directors. Should there be any additional elements of a proposal that are part of the OHSAA bylaws, a vote of the membership would be required where a majority vote of the member school principals is needed for a modification to be approved.
Ute, who started as executive director in September 2020, said many school administrators and coaches have expressed interest in expansion of divisions. He said there is a concern in the enrollment disparity of the teams from the top to the bottom of the larger divisions.
"Our No. 1 goal is to do what is best for the student-athletes," Ute wrote in the memo. "The board and staff regard expansion as being extremely healthy, and it is something we believe you and your participants would support. We have seven tournament divisions in the sport of football, so why not give student-athletes, schools and their communities the same, or at least comparable, opportunities to compete for a state championship in some of our other sports."
The memo said the OHSAA has studied the number of tournament divisions and formats in other states and have found that several states – including many that have fewer member schools – have more tournament divisions than Ohio.
Besides the sport of football, the OHSAA has not had expansion in some of its traditional four-division sports since the late 1980s. The OHSAA added a seventh division in football in 2013.
The memo said details will be announced after the holidays regarding opportunities for school administrators to share feedback on expansion with the OHSAA at statewide meetings and virtual calls in January.
Ute said the expansion of divisions is not expected to have a major financial impact on the OHSAA. Expansion would not mean playing more tournament contests overall. It simply would be putting the same number of teams into more divisions.
Currently, more than 200 schools enter the postseason tournament in some divisions to compete for a state championship.
The memo cited an enrollment disparity in Division I in the sports of baseball, basketball, soccer, softball and girls volleyball. The enrollment difference from the top to the bottom of schools in Division I is an average of 939 students, with highs of 955 in boys soccer (an enrollment range of 346 to 1,301); 954 in boys basketball (346 to 1,300); 944 in baseball (356 to 1,300) and 940 in girls volleyball (319 to 1,249). Expansion would likely address this disparity.
The board heard proposals that addressed the enrollment disparity between the schools at the top to the bottom of Division I in 2006 and 2019.
The only modification the OHSAA currently has in place addressing that issue is in football, where Division I is comprised of the top 10% of schools based on enrollment and the other six divisions are divided as evenly as possible.
